Los Angeles TV Stations Reap 2010 Election Ad Bonanza

L.A. Times TV industry beat reporter Meg James has the lowdown on a different kind of boffo BO, though some might argue that it still involves a bunch of 3-D jackasses.

Via the newspaper’s Company Town blog, James tips her own story about some staggering figures being compiled by Wells Fargo Securities media analyst Marci Ryvicker:

Ryvicker found that LA stations had collected $105 million [in political ad spending] by the third week of September – three times as much as New York stations. And that was before the candidates’ spending sprees kicked into high gear. By the time election season is over, LA stations could take in as much as $150 million in political money.

Should LA broadcast affiliates as a whole hit that $150 million mark, it would put them for reference’s sake slightly ahead of The Last Airbender on the 2010 domestic theatrical box office receipts list. Sounds about right.

And what’s good for the eBay goose is evidently good for the Internet gander. When we skipped over to BoxOfficeMojo.com to check the BO stats mentioned above, the ad sitting at the top of the page was a 728-by-90-pixels anti-Meg Whitman screed paid for by the California Labor Federation.